A Few Notes on Organizing a Writing Club

With the second season of the Olive Tree Writing Club approaching, I thought I’d share a few thoughts on organizing a writing club:

• I never thought I’d be organizing a writing club in NYC. I’ve never really thought of myself as a community organizer either. I still don’t. I was simply trying to figure out a way to regularly see my writing friends.
• I attended a few writing clubs in NYC before hosting the OTWC. Most felt cliquey, intimidating, and focused on older mediums of writing. I wanted to change that with the OTWC.
• I love meeting other writers. Writers are curious, clear thinkers, open-minded, and empathetic. Writing attracts these sorts of people but writing also transforms you into a more curious, clear-thinking, open-minded, and interesting person. Beautiful things happen when you gather people like this together. 
• Consistency builds loyalty.
• This is by far the most fulfilling thing I do. One of the most rewarding parts is when people tell us they started a Substack or they’ve started writing more because of the OTWC community.
• Communities aren’t built for people, they are built with people.
• If you don’t feel anxious or scared about hosting an event, then is it even worth hosting? Even after running writing events for nearly two years, I still find myself getting stressed even over the recurring events. But that just means I care.
  
• You can’t please everyone. Even if only a small fraction of those that attend become repeat members, that’s all that’s needed to create a sustainable community. Realizing this was a weight off my shoulders. It puts less pressure on me to please everyone because you can’t please everyone.

OTWC Season 2 kickoff is this Sunday @ 10am! RSVP here.